Staff writer
Former Marion resident Amanda Steiner’s story is one of consistent transformation and accomplishment.
She went from normal teen-ager to victim of a tragic automobile accident that left her paralyzed. Then, she demolished through her first obstacles to become a confident high school graduate.
She went on to college where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and is currently working on her master’s. Between college careers, she won a beauty pageant.
Recently Steiner added actor to the list of her accomplishments when she was in a Kansas Trucks commercial. She was filmed moving in and out of a wheelchair accessible van. Her fame is building in central Kansas.
“Several people told my grandma (Hazel Hoffner of Marion) and she calls me every time,” Steiner said.
With the exception of skydiving, Steiner has accomplished every goal she has set for herself, including scuba diving multiple times.
“It’s actually pretty easy,” Steiner said. “The hard part is putting on the suit.”
Though she may not admit it at first, life has not been easy for Steiner since the age of 14.
Steiner was with her family while they were driving home Feb. 28, 1999, from a shopping trip in Kansas City. She was seated behind her father, Perry, who was in the passenger’s seat. A driver ran a stop sign while they were traveling through an intersection in Emporia, hitting their vehicle, which then rolled multiple times.
Steiner said she was conscious during the entire event — feeling the impact of collision, the jarring movement of the rolling vehicle, and then the pain after she was crushed in the wreckage.
Steiner’s mother, Barb, and her two siblings escaped the accident with minimal injuries; Steiner said she knew immediately that she was seriously injured.
“I knew right after we stopped rolling,” she said. “I could tell I could not feel my legs.”
However, Steiner’s worries at the time were concentrated on her father; she could see he had a cut on the back of his head. Emergency medical services transported them to a hospital in Emporia. Steiner and her father were later transferred to Wichita where they stayed for a month.
She said she was never given a speech from a doctor about her condition, but she quickly figured out for herself — she was paralyzed from the waist down.
“I just never got better,” Steiner said.
After a month in Wichita, Steiner and her father, who was paralyzed from the neck down, went to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., near Denver. Craig Hospital specializes in rehabbing patients suffering from spinal cord or brain injuries. Steiner worked full days for three months returning strength to her arms and upper body. She said the physical therapy was one of the most difficult experiences of her life.
“On the other hand it was good,” Steiner said. “It kept your mind off (your situation).”
In the hospital, Steiner started to develop a positive attitude she has carried with her throughout her life.
“It was kind of like everybody was that way,” Steiner said of other patients in the hospital. “You can dwell on it or get over it.”
Steiner worked to gain the independence taken from her in the accident. She missed the last three months of her eighth-grade year but started her freshman year at Marion High School on time that August.
“At first I was supposed to get tutored, but several of my teachers agreed to let me go,” Steiner said. “I was smart; it wasn’t that hard.”
She wanted to drive and she learned to drive when she was 16 just like her peers at Marion High School. She wanted to take a full schedule of classes and she persuaded counselors to increase her class load.
MHS English teacher Janet Killough had Steiner in her classes all four years. Killough said Steiner loathed special attention from the beginning.
“She was pretty doggone independent,” Killough said. “She could succeed on her own merit. She didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her.”
Killough gave an example of Steiner challenging herself with forensics.
“She was very shy at the beginning,” Killough said. “She never wanted to be the center of attention. You just saw her grow from very shy to very self confident, very at ease with who she was. When she was a senior, she let her opinions be known and stood up for other people.”
Steiner’s main goal was to graduate from college and she accomplished in 2008.
In college, first at Emporia State University then the University of Kansas and then returning to ESU, the challenge was partially with scheduling. The distances between classes can be lengthy and some buildings do not have parking.
It did help that Steiner can drive independently with a wheelchair van that has a remote controlled ramp and hand controls near the steering wheel.
“They can be really touchy,” Steiner said of the driving controls. “It was worse for my passengers than for me.”
Travelling between classes is an example of the everyday struggles Steiner faces.
“You get frustrated because you’re used to doing something a certain way,” she said. “I always try to do it myself (even if it takes longer).”
After a yearlong stint as the winner of Miss Wheelchair Kansas in 2008, Steiner has only her thesis to complete to earn a master’s degree in industrial psychology, which involves gauging potential employees for companies. Steiner’s future job duties could be to develop tests and conduct interviews for companies.
“My professor says, with our training, we should be able to pass any test,” Steiner said of being on the employee end of an interview. “I could figure out the gist of what they’re looking for.”
Currently she is serving an internship with an employment company in Emporia. Like many young professionals in the current job market, her positive attitude does not extend to future employment with the company.
“They’re a small company, but it’s a good thing to have on a resume,” Steiner said.
Killough said she believes Steiner will have no problem succeeding in her career. Even during high school, Killough knew Steiner would be successful in whatever career Steiner chose.
“She was very good at reading people. She knew when to ask questions and when to be quiet,” Killough said. “I think that Amanda can do anything she sets her mind to.”
Despite her accomplishments, Steiner does not want to be viewed as an inspiration or motivation to others.
“I just do what I do,” she said.
Ironically, her desire to downplay any affect she has had on other people only makes her more inspirational.